Zim commissions announced at last

Wednesday, 23rd December 2009 7:54pm

At last the names of the people in the Zimbabwe Media Commission, Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission were announced earlier this week bringing an end to speculation that had gone on for at least four months.

I am actually happy to see that the people in the Zimbabwe Media Commission have been named including its
chairperson Godfrey Majonga and I am keen to see it starting to do some work in the coming year.

All these commissions are very important but I think that the one that could have immediate
impact will be the media one when it starts processing applications for media licensing.

There has been tight media control in Zimbabwe over the last 30 years and at the moment there
is no independent daily paper and independent television is just but a dream.

I hope the media commission will do its work quickly and process applications for people who have had their projects on hold for some time.

With unemployment so high at the moment in Zimbabwe, I think the media sector once fully opened up can employ a number of people which is good.

This could also see some experienced journalists go back to Zimbabwe because before they were simply no jobs especially after the Daily News stopped operating.

Its good also to see the new Electoral Commission established when the last one didn't even have the courage to announce the results.

After the 2008 General Elections, the results were withheld for a very long time and I could
see that the electoral commission of the day didn't any much power at all over elections it was meant to have organised.

I hope that this new one will be truly independent and not be run by one of the political
parties as was obvious in the last one.

These parliament driven commissions bring an end to commissions stuffed with retired army personnel.

One area of concern is funding to get these commissions rolling. Without the necessary funding I cannot see them do their work effectively and I hope the unity government will make sure that these commissions are well funded.